Do you know what - seeing that walkout 360......
Working in film and tv there would ne people who'd see that as a gold mine - that kitchen would be a Set Dec;s dream if there happened to be the right era of drama filming. We transplanted a similar vintage kitchen out of a house that was being cleared recently. Stuff like the 'beauty board' on the walls - you just can't buy that anymore.
It would be a longshot but things like that were found through fastidious Facebook Market Place searching - a well key worded listing an a link to the walkabout might yield someone who'd pay to take it away. Then you get to see it in the next Happy Valley.
I've got an award on my mantle piece for a set that had a light-through ceiling like the one in the bathroom
Stick a piece of paper at the top of the stairs saying "DONT GO DOWN EMPTY HANDED"
Pictures (frames could go to a good charity shop) as they seem in good condition.
Edit: Cougar - You can sell that kitchen, it's in great condition and the retro design is desirable.
Good luck x
Firstly condolences - I think many of us will be going through something like this in the next few years.
I have been helping my mum and dad to try and reduce the amount of stuff they have that they never use - they moved from a 6 bed bungalow 25 ish years ago to a 1 bed, and although they had to get rid of a lot of furniture, there is still too much for the house, and the nick knacks cover every surface (and cupboard, and top of cupboards, and boxed up in the garage and loft).
What I would say is that this seems a really nice house, well looked after and without too much stuff to get rid of. Perhaps ask some close friends to come and help haul bits off to charity shops etc?
Re the guitars - not sure what they are, but post a pic up in the guitars thread here and see if people can let you know what they might be worth. If they are not worth a lot (and most aren't) then try and find a young kid who might be overjoyed at getting their first guitar. If they are worth something, then people here can suggest where to sell them ( https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/ is sorta like STW for guitarists for example).
the Oral B ROTJ poster
My childhood bedroom, that. The poster is probably as old as the film.
Re the guitars – not sure what they are, but post a pic up in the guitars thread here and see if people can let you know what they might be worth.
Oh, I didn't know there was a guitar thread. Cheers.
^^^ What Bunnyhop said about the kitchen.
That could fetch a good price if you can find the right outlet.
We had a charity come to my dad's house. They took a few items but said old brown furniture doesn't sell.
After the family had taken some sentimental items and books etc taken to charity shops the rest was dumped. Too much going on dealing with bereavement and the estate to explore every selling option.
I got the clock that had been in the family since the 18th century. After a full service from one of the last local clock guys it sits chiming away every hour.
I find it amazing this clock has been kicking around for 250 years and never moved more than 12 miles from where it was built?
https://player.vimeo.com/video/376007694?h=68b1d8e101
That could fetch a good price if you can find the right outlet.
That's a big "if," I wouldn't know where to start.
Mid-century teak furniture is expensive to buy 2nd hand but the dealers etc will usually only buy it from you at a very low price and may even upcycle/paint it anyway
My friend looked into the same thing and was told a lot of it just isn't worth the effort in trying to sell it. His folks had a 50s burred walnut bedroom set in immaculate condition and he couldn't get anyone to look at it - there was something very similar on eBay for ~£900. It's a total lottery
@Cougar - I'd just pay the £400 and get someone to take the problem away. You'll never know if the "stuff" is worth a lot but why worry about it. It's a lot of hassle to do it yourself and you sound like you just need some peace in your life, not more stress.
The grief it will cause is unlikely to be matched by the money received is my opinion. I'm with ElShalimo on this (and it's what we did with my parents house)
Regarding selling stuff and the comments above...
Knocking around in the loft at my Mum's house was a load of old Corgi toy cars; they'd belonged to my Dad, he'd given them to me but they'd ended up in the loft after I moved out (parents long since divorced).
Dug them out ages ago when I was helping with some tidying, popped a few of them on eBay and they got "reasonable" money but even then, it was more hassle than it was worth to clean them, research what they actually were, list them, answer all the inevitable questions from bidders, box them and post them.
The idea of doing that with 40 years worth of accumulated tat fills me with horror! The potentially small cash gains are just not worth the time spent sorting and listing everything then dealing with the inevitable tyre-kickers. Best hope is to find someone who'll give you £200 for a pile of stuff and if they happen to upcycle some of it, good on them!
If you decide to take the furniture to the tip yourself, read up about POPs first and don't cut it up to get it to fit in the car.
With my parents house we found a refugee family who were delighted to take the white goods, dining suite etc.
Might be worth having a look at https://droppoint.org/ , they connect you to various verified charities.
Having had to clear my mums house, I would in future happily pay £400 to never go through that hell again. It wasn't really the clearing, it was dealing with my sister who wanted to keep everything!
Having done it recently, I wish I'd have just paid someone to do it sooner... the niggling stress of it all and the thought of having to list stuff for sale, especially big stuff like dining room table, 3 peice suite, several large cabinates, etc, etc, ..
It would have saved me a lot of anxiety if I'd had just done that in the first place 6 months ago.
Oh and a starilift aswell.. which unless pretty new and hig end, are only worth scrap metal value. One company wanted to charge me £200 just to get rid of that one thing. It needed to be gone along with a lot of other big stuff as the house sale was nearing completion...
Sorry I’ve not read the whole thread
I was envolved with clearing my dads sister’s house. The advice we received from her neighbours son, who had just cleared her house, was don’t bother selling the good stuff separately. Unless you’re happy to do everything yourself
Basically over months him and his bother sold loads of good stuff. But when they called the clearance company they said you’ll have to cover all our costs because there’s nothing left we can sell. So in the end they didn’t make anything selling the stuff, as it just increased the clearance costs
We used the same company but didn’t sell anything ourselves. They just charged us the the costs they incurred at the tip. 3 guys labour over 2 days was covered by what they sold
@Cougar it sounds like a festering source of stress and guilt for you, and I'm willing to bet there will be no great feeling of satisfaction (or financial gain) in knuckling down and dealing with it yourself. I think we sometimes kid ourselves that it is our personal responsibility to 'do things properly' in this kind of situation to achieve 'closure'. Maybe for some people, but not for others.
400 quid for clearance sounds like money well spent to me - take out a small amount of token items and sell them if you feel like it, but above all, invest your energy in looking after yourself. Preserve your memories of your childhood home by not making the final one you emptying it into a skip.
400 quid is a ****ing bargain and I’d snap their hands off.
FiL’s tip will be close to 10x that and I don’t begrudge them. It will be a hateful job.
Yes, in the midst of this too with our parent's property. One issue is that there are three of us siblings, one of whom is deeply attached to everything of our parents, from Dad's 20-year-old Dunlop tennis shoes to the most hideous commemorative plates. Result being that we have cupboards full of clothes etc. It's difficult but I might have to try again to move things on. We have a local charity that has collected some larger items (beds etc) for free. We gave a load of stuff (bicycles etc) to local Ukrainian refugees and a local sailing charity. But there's a lot more to go. Sigh.
One issue is that there are three of us siblings, one of whom is deeply attached to everything of our parents, from Dad’s 20-year-old Dunlop tennis shoes to the most hideous commemorative plates.
My Dad and aunt had this when they cleared out their father's house. My aunt - a lovely and thoroughly pragmatic woman - was very much "house clearance, skip, sell house".
My Dad was hoarding all manner of old tat, horrible furniture, old kitchen porcelain and so on cos he'd "grown up with it" or "it had memories".
Was a massive source of stress and argument between them, I'm not sure they ever really healed that rift!
I suppose in a scenario like that it's handy to have an offer accepted on the purchase of the house.. As the clock is ticking then so it has to be sorted one way or another... The other sibling or whoever then must take what they want and accept the rest is gone.
We had to do this last year (dad died, mum couldn't cope on her own at 90+, eventually has gone into a home. Council want my mum's 0.5.of the house value so had to sell. (Brother copped for doing most of the bureaucracy as he's 100 miles closer than me).
We basically went and sorted the photos and personal docs etc, I retrieved my old Marshall amp and guitar, brothers took some proper vintage fishing gear of my dad's, and other family members went though stuff to locate other pockets of stashed £££ cash (!!! Make sure you do that - older folks stick cash in odd places !!!).
Buyer was a builder who was going to renovate it (it needed gutting and totally redoing really).
We couldn't get anyone to sensibly take stuff even free. Eventually the builder had a couple of skips in to clear out. We'd have spent more in diesel travelling there and back than what we'd have got trying to sell stuff.
Best wishes getting through it. You have to be ruthless.
It’s a tough world. But it’s basically i can throw it away or i can die and then my kids can throw it away
In wish i was better at acting on this
Why is it difficult if siblings want to keep different amounts/items of stuff? The only minor disagreement I had with my sister was when we wanted the same things!
